There is a growing market for apps that aim to support your mental health. Whilst they cannot replace the experience of therapy where an expert listens and tunes into your specific difficulties, they represent a helpful tool that you always have at hand. Some are aimed at building specific skills, like breathing or meditation, and others will guide you in understanding psychological principles that you can apply in your life. Be sure to check whether qualified professionals were involved in developing the app. Here are a few that I have come across that I find helpful.  

Breathing Zone and Respirelax+: The simplest and most efficient way to calm down, regardless of what you are struggling with. These two very simple apps that just guide your breathing. 

Smiling Mind: Developed by an Australian charity, this free app has a variety of mindfulness programs for all ages, including children as young as 3 years old, as well as for classrooms and the workplace. 

Calm Harm: A free app that offers ideas to 'ride the wave' of difficult feelings. It is intended to help cope with the urge to self-harm, but the ideas are useful to manage other urges and overwhelming feelings in general. 

Catch It: This is a free smartphone app that functions as a mood diary to help you become more aware of how your thoughts and feelings are linked and begin to change the way you think and feel.

​WellMind: Free app developed by the NHS with information and advice on dealing with stress, anxiety and depression. It includes self-help guides and a body-map to see how mental health problems can affect the body.

Moodkit: One-off payment for an app developed by clinical psychologists and based on CBT principles, with four integrated tools to help you track your mood, engage in mood-enhancing activities, identify and challenge problematic thinking and journal templates to promote well-being. 

SAM (Self-help App for the Mind): Free, community backed app with a mood- and trigger-tracker, self-help content in different formats, as well as a social feature allowing you to give and receive support.

​MindShift: Free Canadian app (available in English and French) with a number of CBT-based tools to tackle worry, perfectionism, panic, social anxiety and phobias. In addition to mood-trackers, thought journalling, and healthy habit tips, this app also has specific behavioural tools to encourage you to actively test-out unhelpful beliefs and face fears, as well as a community forum, breathing and grounding exercices and coping statements to help in moments of anxiety.

CBT Thought Diary: A free app based on CBT principles and which guides you in tracking your emotions and thoughts, identifying patterns and spotting unhelpful thinking styles.

Side by Side: Supportive online community, developed by the UK-based mental health charity, Mind.

Psychometric assessments tend to be recommended by schools so there may be several conversations between school, you and me to clarify what is needed. An initial appointment will then be made with parents to gather background information and this can be in person or online. The assessment appointment with the child is face-to-face and likely to last between 2 and 3 hours (with breaks). Mondays are reserved for assessment appointments so your child's appointment is most likely to be on a Monday morning. Following this, a report will be completed and a feedback appointment can be arranged. Further information can be sent upon request. Costs for assessments vary depending on what is required.
 
 
Assessments use scientific tools that are aimed at evaluating different mental functions, such as memory, processing speed, different types of reasoning (such as logical, verbal, abstract or quantitative), verbal and perceptual skills, as well as academic abilities, such as reading, writing, spelling, or mathematics. 
Commonly, these cognitive and academic tests are requested by schools when teachers or parents notice that a child is struggling academically, to support the identification of learning difficulties that may be hindering the child’s educational progress. More important than any individual score or IQ number is to identify a child’s profile of strengths and weaknesses to understand how they are best able to make sense of the world around them, and provide recommendations on how to build on their skills and accommodate to their weaknesses.
 
There are also numerous standardised questionnaires that can be used to detect and assess a number of psychological difficulties in adults and in children, including depression, different forms of anxiety, hyperactivity or conduct problems, obsessive-compulsive symptoms or post-traumatic stress disorder. They are typically used in formal assessments for schools, but insurance companies can also request them for adults in certain situations, such as accident claims or capacity to return to work. These questionnaires can also inform therapy if considered necessary.
 
Creative tools, such as story-telling, play, picture cards or artwork can often add interesting insights and provide an alternative means of expression during assessment as well as therapy.

​Projective tests can also be used to identify psychological difficulties and give an indication of emotional functioning. These tests rely on interpreting a person's responses to vague or ambiguous images, which is considered to give insight into their internal working model, of how they make sense of the world. 

The one single factor that has consistently been shown by research to be predictive of positive therapeutic outcomes is the nature of the therapeutic relationship. So how safe we feel with our therapist is probably going to be the most important ingredient for therapy to be helpful. Despite this, psychologists have a tendency to develop particular therapeutic models to try and explain mental health problems, and to guide them in therapy sessions. I sometimes compare these different models to different languages that can often say the same things, but with crucial nuances that will speak to one person and not another. Here's a quick overview of some of the more popular therapeutic languages I work with. 

Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) is a model-driven, structured approach, which focuses on treating identified current problems. An understanding of the development and maintenance of psychological symptoms is achieved collaboratively by examining the interaction between thoughts, feelings and behaviour in the here-and-now. It rests on an awareness of historical and environmental influences. Often it is useful to notice vicious circles that  maintain a problem, as well as identifying unhelpful thinking styles that may have developed as a result of a difficult experience or belief system. Solutions are found in changing patterns of behaviour and challenging existing thinking styles in order to improve emotional wellbeing, as well as developing strategies, and learning tools to better manage emotions.  
This model is well researched and has a lot of evidence to back it up. It lends itself to the development of self-help manuals and computerised programs, which can be found on the internet (see the self-help page).
 
EMDR stands for Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing and has its origins in treating PTSD, though it is now used more widely to treat a range of psychological difficulties. EMDR is based on targeting and processing specific traumatic memories, which are not encoded the same way by the brain as more 'normal' memories due to the often overwhelming feelings felt at the time. They tend to remain in a more primitive, and sometimes non-verbal, form and can evoke strong feelings when triggered, as though the event was being experienced again. This results in often overwhelming, or 'oversensitive' reactions in the present in relation to events or triggers that are in some way reminiscent of the original trauma.
EMDR uses bilateral stimulation, such as eye movements similar to those we make in REM sleep, to help the brain reprocess these undigested memories whilst remaining safe and connected to the present. In essence we teach our brain to update the traumatic experience into a memory that is firmly in the past. This also allows us to reinterpret and challenge problematic beliefs about ourselves that may have been connected to the traumatic experience. Resolution is reached when the original memory no longer evokes overwhelming feelings. Functional brain imaging techniques show that the more developed parts of the brain (where our thinking, personality and problem-solving reside) become more active, and the more primitive parts of the brain where strong feelings and memory are based become less active after EMDR therapy. This reflects a better integration of traumatic experiences.
 
Systemic theory developed out of communication theories and later gave rise to family therapy. It focuses on locating problems between people, in the interaction, rather than within a person. It places emphasis on the context and the various systems surrounding a problem, including family relationships, belief systems, wider social structures and cultural differences. It can be used as an approach with individuals as well as with families or organisations. Solutions are sought through identifying patterns of interactions and exploring different ways of relating to one another or indeed with the "problem". It allows for multiple perspectives and encourages people to develop their own solutions that are adapted to their circumstances.
 
Psychodynamic therapy is informed by developments in psychoanalytic thinking and has an intra-psychic focus, seeking to understand the influence of early experiences on our current patterns of relating and psychological functioning. Through seeking to understand the ways in which we respond to, and protect ourselves from, difficult emotional experiences, the influence of early relationship traumas can be examined and worked through in therapy. This often involves reflecting on what fears and feelings get expressed in the therapeutic relationship. The insight into these processes alongside safe experimentation with new ways of relating within the therapeutic relationship enables resolution.

It is often a difficult process to reach a decision to seek therapy. More often than not many solutions have already been tried. It can then be a daunting prospect to speak to a stranger about emotive, personal issues. It takes courage to ask for help and to raise difficult topics. In therapy you will be provided with a safe space in which you can express the difficulties you are experiencing and feel deeply listened to. You will also be encouraged to explore your strengths and resources, empowering you to face these difficulties with a sense of resilience. Whilst some of the topics we bring to therapy can feel burdensome, the aim of therapy is to lighten the load.
Psychological therapy offers a regular and confidential space to explore difficulties in order to seek understanding and develop ways to move forward. Therapy can be helpful to overcome upsetting early life experiences, situational stressors such as moving country, unemployment, divorce or bereavement, as well as readjusting after traumatic events that can trigger a number of mental health difficulties, for which psychological therapy has been shown to be effective.
If you are uncertain about meeting a psychologist or simply want to find out more about mental health and therapy, check out the useful links page, which include helplines, self-help manuals, a free online CBT programme and information about mental health related issues. You can also read people's experience of working with me in the testimonials section.
 
 
Therapy across the lifespan
 
Adults come to therapy for a variety of reasons, such as feelings of depression, low self-esteem and different forms of anxiety, as well as obsessions, addictive behaviours, phobias, eating disorders, irritability or aggression and somatic complaints (such as unexplained aches and pains). Many people find ways to manage difficulties, but sometimes it can reach a point when these difficulties start getting in the way of you being able to live your life as you would like to. 
Sometimes it is other people who notice changes in our behaviour, or relationships can become problematic.
Mental health difficulties can affect, and be affected by, other areas of our life such as relationships, work, or our enjoyment of leisure activities. Life events, past or present, and life circumstances can simply make certain times of our life more difficult.
Therapy can help us identify what bothers us most and how we can tackle it to make improvements in our quality of life.
 
Sometimes just the prospect of becoming a parent can be fraught with difficult emotions and the early weeks and months after a baby’s birth are often exhausting. Whilst most people will experience this as stressful to some degree, some circumstances or life experiences can leave many feeling exceptionally vulnerable. Therapy can help parents-to-be and parents of infants work towards increased wellbeing and a better start for the infant’s early life when it feels particularly difficult.
 
Being a parent can be stressful at the best of times. Young infants and children can sometimes show signs of emotional or behavioural difficulties, which make parenting even more difficult. 
A child’s needs and abilities change and develop rapidly. Their family and their environment can have an enormous impact on their wellbeing, and it is therefore important always to consider children’s context and significant relationships. Therapy provides a space to identify a child’s needs and difficulties as well as highlight their strengths and resources to determine how best to support their psychological development and wellbeing within the context of their family. 
Therapy sessions will usually include some talking but can also include play, drawing and other creative methods to help younger children express their thoughts and feelings. Whilst children often benefit from their own confidential space, it is also important to meet with parents to develop a shared understanding of problems and empower both child and parent to overcome them. It is not unusual for the primary task of therapy with children is in fact with the parents as their connection and attunement to the child is of paramount importance. ​
 
Adolescence and young adulthood can be a thrilling time. However, it is also a time filled with personal questions and external pressures, as well as the gradual separation from the close family unit and developing independence. This can be a particularly stressful time for some young people and their families. Certain circumstances, like moving schools, the birth of a sibling, divorce or other family problems as well as a variety of upsetting personal experiences can make it more tricky than usual and mental health difficulties, such as depression or anxiety can make their appearance during this period. Young people’s relationships with their peer group as well as with their bodies, with food, alcohol or drugs can also become problematic.
Young people can be seen on their own in therapy to help manage and overcome these problems, and rules of confidentiality apply. Parents, family, or school can also be included if deemed appropriate and helpful.